


Safe Haven

by KaylenaKey



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Boyfriends in love, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Parents Arguing, The Strand's are a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28802394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaylenaKey/pseuds/KaylenaKey
Summary: T.K. flees to Carlos after his parents are fighting once again. But he isn't safe from his parents there for long either.(This is inspired from the video Ronen posted a few hours ago on Twitter where Owen and Gwyneth are fighting over her taking his beauty products and T.K. being fed up by it)
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 7
Kudos: 186





	Safe Haven

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm so excited for Season 2 and especially this clip, so I decided to write this piece of what mayyyyyyybe could happen haha.
> 
> Nah I actually think the next scene after the fight scene is the one where T.K. sits at Carlos' dinner table and eats. But this felt cute.
> 
> Well, enough of me boring you! Enjoy :)  
> (I hope my english is understandable for you)

T.K. was exhausted. His parents couldn't quit fighting and weren't even paying attention to him when he tried to stop them, so he just ran out of the house. He could only hear his dad call after him after the front door fell shut behind him. He ignored it, increasing his speed so his parents couldn't catch up with him if they tried to. He doubted it. They were far too concerned about their own problems than to care about how he felt.

The way to Carlos' house was far, by foot it would take him at least half an hour, but he didn't care. All he knew was that he needed to get away from his parents. And Carlos' place was the only option for him. He was the only one he knew that wouldn't ask any bugging questions. Everyone was always so desperate to find out about their Captain's marriage issues, but not Carlos. He just cared for T.K.'s well-being.

Angry tears made their way down his face as he was walking. This had been going on for four months, and he couldn't do this anymore! He loved his dad and he loved his mom. But both of them together was not a good mix anymore. Their constant arguing reminded him of the one of silblings fighting over meaningless things. T.K. was frustrated. He thought he would be happy to see his mother again - and he was; but on the second day of her stay he already woke up to his parents fighting, and it hasn't stopped since.

He was relieved when his boyfriend's house came into view. He jogged up to his front door and knocked. He rested his hand on the door while waiting, using his other one to wipe away his tears. He sniffed right before the door was opened from the other side, showing a confused and worried Carlos. Right. He should have called first.

Carlos' expression went from lost to soft. He already knew the procedure. The amount of times T.K. showed up at his front door in the past four months, clearly crying and upset... he knew what was going on.

"Come here, baby", he said, pulling T.K. into a comforting hug. The smaller man let his boyfriend embrace him and rested his head on his shoulder. Carlos already managed to calm him down just by that. The wonders that man could do...

They soon broke away from the hug and made their way to the couch. T.K. buried his face in Carlos' chest while he let the man hold him.

"Do you want to talk about it?", Carlos spoke into his hair after a while. "It's so stupid", T.K. sobbed. "Not one day has passed where they didn't argue about unnecessary things! I can't do this anymore, Carlos. Do they ever think about how I feel?" "Well, did you talk to them about it?" T.K. sat up a bit so he could look into Carlos' face. "They didn't really register my presence much in the last months. I don't think they care."

Carlos' hand came up to T.K.'s face, caressing his wet cheek while he protested: "They do care. They maybe just didn't realize how hard it's hitting you. You need to talk to them about it, tiger. Otherwise it's never gonna stop. And I hate seeing you like this."

Carlos had a point. He didn't see his boyfriend being happy much the last four months. Which were also the first four months of them being an official couple. But that wasn't the reason T.K. was sad, both of them knew that. Carlos was actually the only reason T.K. smiled sometimes.

"I'm sorry. I know I wasn't easy to be around lately", T.K. apologized. "Don't be. I'm glad you come to me for help instead of bottling it all up. You know I'm always gonna be here for you."

They snuggled together again, and T.K. felt himself relax a bit. Carlos became his new happy place and he always knew how to calm the younger man down. Their comfortable silence got interrupted, however, when they heard a knocking on the door.

T.K. made a whining noise when Carlos made a move to get up. "Just stay here, please", he tried to beg, but knew that a Carlos Reyes couldn't ignore the door. Especially after his father's voice echoed from the other side of the door. "Carlos? Is T.K. with you?"

Carlos finally disentangled himself from T.K., much to his boyfriend's dismay, and made his way over to the door. "You didn't tell him where you went?", he asked before opening the door, a little disappointment in his voice.

"T.K., are you out of your mind? Do you realize how much you worry me when you leave like that? You could have picked up your phone at least!", Owen immediately discussed as he saw his son sitting on the officer's couch.

"Oh, so now you notice?", the younger Strand asked, disbelief clear in his voice. "What is that supposed to mean?" "Oh, I don't know. You just didn't really pay much attention to me when I desperately tried to break up your childish fighting!", T.K. added, without looking up at his father. Carlos just stood there like a by-watcher, not exactly knowing what to do.

"It's not just childish fighting, T.K., we-" "Yes it is! It's nonsense! You have no idea how I'm suffering from it, waking up to yelling every single day. There has no day gone by that you weren't arguing, do you realize that? Can't you just keep your shit together around each other, for once? For my sake?" Tears made their way back into T.K.'s eyes. He was furious. He just wanted to disappear, but he knew it needed to be said.

T.K. had wanted to say these things since he was 7 years old. Maybe even earlier. But he never had the courage to. He felt bad for it, but he was kind of relieved when his parents divorced, knowing the constant screaming would stop.

His father just tried to counter, though, ranting about how it was entirely Gwyneth's fault that they were fighing. After all, it was her who used his beauty products. It was her who used his car without asking the day before. And it was her who ate his last yoghurt two days before. Everything was her fault.

And if T.K. would have talked with his mother in that moment, she would have said the same thing about Owen. That he was the one who kept interrupting her in her online-meetings. And kept waking her in the mornings when he got ready for work and was too loud once again. And it was him who messily pushed her paperwork into his desk drawer when he needed space at his desk.

That was enough for T.K.; he was too fed up at that point to continue the conversation. He just mumbled a "Forget it" before he got up and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, but he was broken. He leaned against the nearest wall as he let all his tears slow down silently. The young firefighter felt all his energy leaving him as he slid down the wall until he hit the cold tiled floor. He pulled his legs tight to his chest and hugged them as he buried his face in his knees.

Carlos used the moment to talk to Owen, who looked like he was about to chase after his son. "Mr. Strand, please. I understand how conflicting it must be to live with your ex-wife again, but did you ever stop and think about how it's affecting T.K.? He's hurting. Deeply. At some point I stopped counting how many times he came over here while crying his eyes out because he was too disstressed by you and his mother fighting. This hits him really hard."

Owen stared at him for a while, processing it, and Carlos was scared that he angered the man. But Owen was just shocked. Carlos wondered if he really didn't realize.

"Oh god. I'm such an idiot. He really did try to talk to us about it but we just pushed him away. I was too fed up with all the frustration of being forced to quarantine with my ex-ex-wife. I never stopped to think about how T.K. would feel about it. I'm so stupid. You are right. I'm sorry, it must've been hard for you to handle."

"I just can't stand seeing him like that anymore. I didn't want to come off so harsh, but I don't know how to help him in this situation."

"No, you.. you're alright, I'm glad you told me. He probably doesn't even wanna talk to me right now. I'll make this right. Can you tell him that I'm sorry, Carlos?", Owen asked as a favor from his son's boyfriend.

"Yeah, sure. I don't think he'll want to sleep at home tonight, but I can make sure he calls you in the evening?", Carlos offered.

"No, it's fine. Just take good care of my boy, alright?", Owen said while putting his hand on Carlos' shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

"Always", was the officer's answer, because he knew that Owen wasn't just talking about tonight.

Owen sent him a half-smile, then he led himself out of the house to drive back home and settle things with Gwyneth.

Carlos on the other hand made his way to his bathroom, coming to stop before the closed door. "Baby, can I come in?"

Seeing his boyfriend in that state felt like a big part of his heart was just being ripped out. He wanted to see the man in front of him smile again. Carlos sat himself down next to T.K. and draped his arm over his shoulders, pulling him into his side.

They sat like that for a while. The only sound being heard were T.K.'s choked sobs as he tried to stop crying. It felt ridiculous for him to cry over things like that. He was a grown man, for god's sake. But seeing two of the most important people in his life constantly fighting upset him.

"Let's go to bed, hm?", Carlos mumbled soon, his hand sliding up and down T.K.'s arm in a reassuring way. The younger man let Carlos help him stand up and lead him into the bedroom. Carlos pulled out some sweatpants and a hoodie for T.K., while T.K. worked on unbuttoning his shirt.

After both of them were in comfortable clothes, they laid down on the bed, snuggled close under the blankets together. T.K. had calmed down enough and the heartbeat from his boyfriend that he could hear from where his ear was placed right over his heart soothed him enough to lull him to sleep slowly.


End file.
